NATION NETWORK

May 2015

The dictionary describes ‘defunct’ as “no longer existing or functioning” but I think “forever is a long damn time” should be added for full effect. The Oklahoma City Barons are defunct, a memory, soon to be a distant bell. Putting five years of effort and development into a few paragraphs is impossible, so I won’t…

Justin Schultz has emerged as a focal point for much of the wrath directed at Edmonton’s ineffective blue line. Some of that is his fault; he lacks any kind of physical edge and has specific failings, particularly in the defensive zone. Much of it, however, is the fault of an Oilers team that has done…

&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; Among the possible matches for the Edmonton Oilers’ laundry list of problems are the Ottawa Senators. A team that made the playoffs, has three good goalies, runs on a budget, and has some horrible contracts. Oh, and their GM isn’t going to buy anyone out. It’s too good to be true. Or is it?

In our continuing effort to bring you entertaining content in the time period that shall forever be known as “is it McDavid yet?” it is our pleasure to bring you another edition of War Games. In this episode, I play Glen Sather of the New York Rangers (similar in age) and Jonathan Willis takes on…

Adam McQuaid is a big, tough, right-shooting defenceman with ties to Peter Chiarelli from their time together in Boston. He will be an unrestricted free agent and has gotten some love in the comments section here as a potential addition for the Oilers. For those hoping to see the defenceman make the trip to Edmonton,…

I interviewed Taylor Hall for a feature piece that ran in the Edmonton Journal yesterday. I wasn’t able to include all of his thoughts in one article. I had to leave out some good comments, but I wanted to share the remainder of our conversation. Today, Hall shares some more insight into Todd McLellan as a coach, but I…

With Anton Slepyshev signing his ELC, Bogdan Yakimov already having a year in the AHL under his belt, and Darnell Nurse looking everything like the stud the team believed him to be on the day they selected him, the 2013 Draft is looking like a success story. Everything is breaking their way. Everything except Marco Roy.

The Edmonton Oilers had an unusual draft in 2014, but things should be back to normal this coming season. The club chose four or more players who attended the NHL combine from 2010 through 2013, but only one in 2014. With so many picks this season, Oilers fans would do well to scan the names…

This is going to be a difficult summer for many teams thanks to a salary cap which has risen by less than expected early in the year. For a team like the Edmonton Oilers, there’s a chance to land talent from a team in cap trouble. Taking Advantage of Cap Hell is dedicated to looking…

The next month will give us some insight into Peter Chiarelli’s strategy on how he plans to build the Oilers organization into a contender. Not just the NHL team, but the overall organizational depth. How will he fill out the 50-man roster?

In recent weeks on this site, we’ve turned significant attention to the Edmonton Oilers’ salary cap situation, which while reasonable hardly provides the team with unlimited flexibility. Some of that money will be used to bolster the club’s inadequate netminding. The question in this week’s What Would You Do Wednesday is how much of the Oilers’ finite…